The Grizzlies began their post-All-Star break starting Luke Kennard, Ziaire Williams, Vince Williams Jr., Santi Aldama, and Jaren Jackson Jr. That group began the game shooting 4-7 from the field and traded leads with the Clippers to start. After the Clippers used an 11-3 run to turn a tied game into an eight-point lead, the Grizzlies responded with a 10-2 run to end the first quarter tied at 29.
The second quarter followed the first-quarter trend of the teams trading leads throughout until the Grizzlies used a 16-7 run to turn a three-point deficit into a six-point halftime lead at 59-53. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 15 points and 3 steals and Vince Williams Jr. scored 9 points and led the Grizzlies with 5 rebounds and 5 assists at the half.
The Grizzlies continued to hang onto their lead for most of the third quarter until a Russell Westbrook corner three gave the Clippers a 74-73 lead with two minutes remaining in the quarter. The Grizzlies briefly regained the lead moments later with a GG Jackson lay-in but a back-to-back Kawhi Leonard midrange and three-point shot gave the Clippers a 79-75 lead to end the third quarter.
The Grizzlies began the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run to regain the lead at 83-81. The teams traded leads for the rest of the fourth until a Jaren Jackson Jr. turnover with 1:30 remaining led to a Kawhi Leonard dunk that gave the Clippers the lead for good. Then a James Harden dagger three sealed the deal as the Clippers escaped with a 101-95 win.
Now for the main takeaway:
Post-All-Star Rotation
The Grizzlies’ injury woes this season continued with the announcements of Marcus Smart and Desmond Bane being ruled out for at least another three weeks. That development has bound the Grizzlies at the guard position as Scottie Pippen Jr. suffered a bulging disc injury in his lower back that will sideline him for at least two additional weeks and Jacob Gilyard only has one game remaining on his two-way contract to play with the Grizzlies.
However, Jake LaRavia returned to the lineup after missing the previous month with an ankle injury. His return, which coincided with the eventual losses of Jordan Goodwin (10-day contract) and Jacob Gilyard (50-game two-way contract limit) led the Grizzlies to begin this matchup with a non-point guard starting unit. With Derrick Rose as the only current healthy full-time rostered player who is primarily a point guard, the Grizzlies will probably look to implement these non-traditional lineups a lot throughout the rest of this season.
The emergence of Vince Williams Jr. as a playmaker over the five games (at least seven assists in each game) before this matchup left him as the primary ball handler in the starting group and he responded with four assists in the first quarter. With Luke Kennard as the primary shooter, Jaren Jackson Jr. as the primary scorer, and Ziaire Williams and Santi Aldama to round out the starting five Vince Williams Jr. showed that those previous five games weren’t a fluke.
Derrick Rose led the bench unit with John Konchar, Jake LaRavia, Lamar Stevens, and GG Jackson II to round out the Grizzlies’ new 10-man rotation, for now. This updated lineup worked for most of the game against one of the elite Western Conference teams and showed promise in the Grizzlies’ pursuit of being a competitive team for the rest of this season.
Start/Stop/Continue
CONTINUE utilizing Vince Williams Jr. as a primary ball handler. His game has grown so much throughout this season and he keeps producing at levels that many didn’t know he was capable of. He only had seven or more assists in a game once before his current six-game streak of having seven or more assists and it is a sight to behold. Point Forward Vince is here to stay!
Coming Up
The Grizzlies remain home to welcome the Brooklyn Nets for their first matchup this season on Monday, February 26th at 7 PM CST.
Final Quote
“I think we should’ve won, I don’t like that morale victory stuff, we kind of gave that one away down the stretch” – Lamar Stevens